“I guess there are a lot of chances of that,” Andrade said when asked about a possible payment renegotiation. “Right now it’s not just about the cooperation between producers... (but) cooperation between producer and consumer.”

The firm also expects to invest $50 billion over the next 7 years to raise capacity by 1 million barrels per day, Andrade told reporters on the sidelines of an energy conference in Istanbul.

Venezuela currently produces about 2 million barrels per day.

Struggling under triple-digit inflation and Soviet-style product shortages as its socialist economy unravels, Venezuela has been hit hard by low prices for oil, its economic lifeline.

The OPEC nation’s oil output has slipped and PDVSA is struggling to maintain investment in its oilfields, which hold the world’s largest crude reserves.